After her husband’s heart stopped beating, one Rupert woman started a fundraiser to bring specialized imaging equipment to the hospital.
Patricia Ulmer is in the early stages of her campaign but after the recent passing of Richard (Dick), she received some financial contributions and wanted to put the money toward improving cardiac health care on the North Coast.
“I decided to see if Dr. Browne could suggest a piece of equipment that was needed that could help others with similar heart conditions,” Patricia said.
Her husband’s heart specialist recommended bringing a computerized tomography (CT) coronary angiogram into the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital. Richard had an enlarged heart, which made imaging more difficult with the existing equipment at the hospital.
Richard was diagnosed in 2001, and up until his death he experienced several serious episodes and had to be medivaced to St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.
“Sometimes we had to wait in ICU (in Prince Rupert) for up to five days. This was due to weather or waiting for a bed to open up,” Ulmer said.
The cost of a CT Coronary angiogram is approximately $70,000 with training included.
Currently, the only place in northern B.C. where a CT coronary angiogram is available is at the University of Nothern B.C. hospital in Prince George, said Eryn Collins, Northern Health communications officer.
“Expanding into providing cardiac CT services involves frankly more than just having the software to upgrade the system. It’s a service that there are many other supports that have to be in place to provide that including proper training of radiologists and technologists as well as the nursing staff that would be involved in providing that care,” Collins said.
Northern Health has policies in place in terms of how donations are accepted and coordinated. Health care foundations and auxiliaries in the community accept monetary donations on behalf of the health authority.
“It’s just really important, from our perspective, to be able to make sure that whatever someone wishes to see donated can be properly prioritized and purchased through the best channels and one of the key considerations, if not the key consideration, is that we’re actually able to use that donation to its full potential,” she said.
The North Coast Improvement Society, which has been a registered charity since 2002, receives donations and organizes fundraisers to bring more clinical equipment to the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital, is now accepting donations on behalf of Patricia Ulmer in memory of her husband Richard.
She requests to those interested to forward their donations to (Attn: CT Angiogram NCHIS, PO Box 326, Prince Rupert, B.C., V8J 3P9).